Book Review – The Fusion Marketing Bible

Realizing that different kinds of marketing ought to be integrated is easy. The more difficult task is figuring out which pieces to fuse and doing so in a way that maximizes revenues.

The Fusion Marketing Bible by Lon Safko provides expert advice to help marketers develop and execute a comprehensive strategy to fuse more traditional forms of media such as print, radio, and television with both digital and social media.

Lon Safko is also the bestselling author of The Social Media Bible and a proven innovator. According to his bio, he is the inventor of the first voice recognition program and has 18 inventions and 30,000 personal records in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

In his latest book, Safko recommends marketers focus on strategy first and then determine appropriate tools – e.g. radio, magazines, Facebook, YouTube. The Fusion Marketing Bible provides guidance on both the strategic challenges of integrating disparate kinds of media and the practical nuts and bolts of execution.

5 Steps to Fusion Marketing Success

While The Fusion Marketing Bible outlines a plethora of approaches for thinking through the challenges of integrated marketing, the overarching methodology revolves around five key steps:

1. Analyze your existing mediato establish what is and isn’t working.
The book walks readers through an equation that determines your cost of customer acquisition (COCA) for individual campaigns. According to Safko, this step is imperative as it enables one to determine what is and isn’t working – particularly in regard to your target demographics.

2. Focus on the trinity of social media.
Safko believes 90% of your social media participation should focus on the top 3 – 1. blogging, 2. microblogging (Twitter), and 3. larger social networks (Facebook and LinkedIn). Frequent blogging will improve your position in search engine rankings. Microblogging allows you to stay connected with your customers, leaders, suppliers, and lawmakers in your industry. Social networking drives engagement and lead generation.

3. Fuse your social and traditional media. Fuse your marketing efforts by eliminating unsuccessful campaigns and adding more promising ones. Safko has developed a marketing tool called the Safko Wheel that allows you to visualize one objective at the center of the wheel with forty different marketing tools on the outer edges of the circle. This tool allows one both to compare effectiveness of different tools and to identify previously unimagined connections between traditional and social media.

4. Identify human and financial resources. Identify resources that can be redirected to more efficient “tradigital” marketing strategies. Safko points out that management buy-in is the cornerstone to a successful fusion marketing plan. He also reviews the pros and con of hew hires, consultants, contract workers, and interns.

5. Implement and measureyour fusion marketing plan.
As with any successful marketing endeavor, the process requires constant analysis, adjustment, and iteration. Safko reviews several tools for tracking and measuring the social and digital pieces of your plan. A few noteworthy options include landing pages, Google Alerts, and TweetDeck.

Safko’s book provides a thorough overview of potential synergies between traditional media and the evolving worlds of digital and social media, including an array of success stories ranging from LinkedIn to New Zealand World Cup Rugby. This book will be particularly useful for marketing managers and entrepreneurs looking to integrate various marketing initiatives and improve competitive positions in an expanding digital world.

Disclosure: ETMG received a free copy of The Fusion Marketing Bible from McGraw Hill Professional in order to review on our blog. McGraw Hill is not a client of ETMG and we received no other payment or incentive in exchange for this review.

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2 thoughts on “Book Review – The Fusion Marketing Bible”

Michaelsays:

We were trained that outbound marketing is how you attract customers. We were then re-trained that inbound is the only way to reach audiences. Finally, someone has the idea that you can do a little of both and be even more effective.